The next morning Nova awoke to Angel laying a tray of tea beside her bed.
Nova's hand snapped to her belt, for her gun, only to find nothing. Angel gasped and stepped back at Nova's sudden movement.
"Please forgive me," Angel whispered.
Nova blinked, coming fully awake with adrenalin pumping through her veins. "No, it's my fault. Sorry. Bad habit."
Only the barest sliver of light lit the horizon. Angel followed her gaze and nodded. "Toro requested that all guests be woken, he wishes to continue travelling once the sun is fully risen."
Nova nodded and Angel bowed herself out of the room. Nova filled a cup with the fragrant tea and brought it to her lips. The zingy flavour took away the taste of sleep from her mouth and filled her with new energy for the day.
A short time later they were back on the road with Toro's army spread out around them. Nova breathed deep of the fresh air and couldn't help smiling. She had a good feeling about the Capital, and after last night she couldn't dislike Toro too much, he'd put Omi in his place and stood up for Meeka; that was worth a lot in Nova's books.
After leaving the inn they passed no more villages, the landscape becoming bare of any human involvement except for the dirt road that wound on through the mountains. The occasional rodent scurried across their path and took refuge in the long grass on either side.
"Where is everyone?" Nova asked Meeka when by midday they still hadn't passed anyone.
"Travel to and from the Capital is forbidden without Toro's permission," Meeka said. "Almost no one is given the honour."
"But shouldn't there be villages or something?"
Meeka shook her head. "It is forbidden to build so close to the Capital. It's for security."
Nova shook her head. Just when she thought she'd got a hold of Chindo's crazy ways something new came up. There wasn't a single building within a day's walk of the Capital and it made the walk dull and daunting at the same time. Nova shivered at the thought of losing sight of the road and wandering lost in the wilderness. That wasn't a fate she wanted to live out.
At mid-afternoon they rounded a bend and came into view of a glistening wall at least three stories tall. It connected two mountain ranges and ran straight across the path, blocking it. A collection of small wooden shacks huddled up against the wall beside a solid wooden door.
Members of Toro's army stood guard in front of the door with swords in hand. Nova felt eyes on the back of her neck and suspected there were others hidden on the mountainsides, watching. The wooden houses spread out from the gate like a small city but there were no people in sight.
Toro called a halt in front of the gates.
"Dismissed," he said to his soldiers.
They dispersed in orderly lines and followed their officers into the town of wooden huts, leaving Nova, Meeka, Omi, and Omi's guards alone with Toro.
"The Stranger will come with me. The rest of you will be accommodated here," Toro said, waving at the houses.
Omi's mouth dropped and he stepped forward. "My Lord, I—"
"Are you questioning me?" Toro said.
Omi's face went white. "No, of course not, My Lord."
"Good. You will find these houses most comfortable. I will come for you when I need you."
Nova glanced at Meeka, her face was frozen into a serene half-smile but Nova could see the disappointment in her eyes. Nova's stomach rolled with guilt and she considered arguing with Toro, otherwise what was the point of Toro dragging Meeka across the planet?
"Come, Stranger," Toro said.
He turned on his heel and marched to the wooden gate.
Nova bit her lip and cast a sympathetic glance to Meeka before following after him. The guards at the gate stepped to the side and pushed it open as Toro approached.
Nova glanced at the guards and stumbled. They had no eyes.
Where they should have been puckered masses of scars and burnt skin, blistered and flaking.
Nova swallowed, hurrying to catch up with Toro.
As soon as they passed through, the gates slammed shut behind them.
Nova stumbled to a stop, gaping. She'd expected a simple village like Omi's, but this was something else entirely. On this side of the wall the guards wore holsters with plasma pistols on each hip. Instead of cloaks they wore bullet proof armour that glinted into the sun.
The buildings weren't wooden or made of sliding screens. These were made of metal and looked like grounded spaceships. The round windows were made of solid glass and speeding vehicles covered in solar panels filled smooth streets.
"What—" Nova said.
"Welcome to the real Chindo," Toro replied.
Nova glanced back at him. His usual guards had been replaced by men with guns who formed a tight box around him. A sleek black car waited just inside the gates.
Nova spun in a tight circle. Solar panels, computers, ships.
"How is this—"
"Please come with me," Toro said.
He turned for the car and one of the guards opened the door for him. He slid inside and beckoned for Nova to follow. She couldn't see any other options so she slid in beside him. Glasses of sparkling water glistened in a holder in front of them.
A woman with red hair and black glasses, wearing a sleek suit, sat on the chair opposite them holding a clipboard.
"Welcome back, Toro," she said, raising one eyebrow at Nova.
"Updates," Toro said.
"There was some muttering of a rebellion amongst some fisherman in Sector Eight. We took care of it like you asked."
"Good. You were subtle?"
"A tragic boating accident," the woman said, shaking her head.
"Good. Next?"
"Sector Two continues to try to adapt. We've sent in spontaneous explosions, unexplained fires, and plague, but they seem intent on pushing forward."
"Move on to HAV. Annihilate a village and spread a rumour that it was a result of one of their inventions. That should set them straight."
The woman made a note on her clipboard.
Nova looked from Toro to the woman with her mouth wide open. She could only make out half of what they were saying without context but none of it sounded good. Her head was still circling what Toro had said about the virus. The name sounded so familiar. Then it struck; HAV, Halucin Acute Virus had almost wiped out all of humanity… then there were the Reapers. She shivered. It was more virulent and more deadly than anything else the human race had ever invented. So what the hell was Toro doing with it?
While Nova's thoughts circled Toro and the woman kept talking.
"The drought in Sector Five is going well. They're begging for our help and when we send water they'll do anything you ask."
"Good. We'll need them. Do you have anything on Buta?"
The woman's lips pursed even tighter and she looked down at her notes. "Nothing since the attack on Omi's village."
"How can we lose him like that!" bellowed Toro. "We have cameras all over the planet!"
"Our analysts think that he's got a way of blocking them. It's the only explanation for how he keeps disappearing."
Toro took a deep breath and smoothed the sleave of his shirt. "I want him found and executed. No more waiting and no more excuses."
"Of course," said the woman.
"Good. Let's go," Toro said.
The woman tapped once on the glass screen that separated their compartment from the driver and the car lurched forward. Nova's hands twisted around her shirt as she stared fixedly out of the window. The streets rushed past and it was like being on another world, separate from Chindo. She saw no children as they raced through the city; only military men and women marching about their duties.
Nova guessed it had been ten minutes when they stopped in front of a sparkling white building with guards on every corner. Nova's door was opened for her and she stepped out into the afternoon light. Toro got out on the other side and marched up the steps. Nova followed a few paces behind. At the top of the stairs a white door opened for them and beyond that spread a wide entranceway lined with desks.
Men and women sat at each desk monitoring computer screens. Each of them displayed a separate video feed; some of them looked out into forests and fields while others looked out at villagers. Nova's stomach dropped as she recognised one particular room; it had been hers back in Omi's house.
"What the hell is this?" she hissed as she caught up to Toro.
"This," he said. "Is Chindo."
"You're spying on the whole planet?"
"I prefer to think of it as keeping them safe."
"They're living in poverty while you watch!"
"It's for the good of Chindo."
"How is keeping them in the Dark Ages for their own good? How is encouraging rampant sexism in their best interest?"
"That's easy," Toro said. "If the women are silenced, the people are far less likely to move forward, to advance technologically. You see, it's all about control. As long as they see me as untouchable, god-like, they will follow me."
"So this is just a power trip?" Nova said. "You're doing everything you can to keep these people as slaves!"
"All for the greater good," Toro said. "It keeps order. Now I want to show you something."
Toro turned and led the way down a dim corridor. A guard followed behind them. The corridor led down to a set of steps which wound around a central pole. They went deeper until Nova was sure they were well underground. The bottom of the staircase deposited them into a cavern made of metal, like a giant hanger, and sitting in its very centre was a ship as big as any Nova had seen. The only vessel that came close was the crashed colonisation ship she'd raided on Taive.
"These colonisation ships have a habit of crashing," she said. "And somehow the people always end up as savages."
Toro glared at her. "We are far from savages."
"I guess that depends on your definition."
"This way," Toro said, sweeping forward.
He led her to the front of the ship where the command pod door lay open. Inside, a yellow warp crystal just like the one Cal had salvaged from Taive lay on top of the control panel.
Nova's heart fluttered, after everything she'd gone through to get that crystal… this one lay abandoned, but then, this ship was already past the border.
A star chart took up most of the wall behind the command chairs, mapping the galaxies that were known when it had been made.
Nova took it in with one glance. The large pieces of empty space were missing entire galaxies, many of which were now inhabited. Some of the planets marked on the map were gone now, ruined by mining or explosions. The map itself was a relic, probably worth a fortune.
"Where did you come from?" Toro said, waving at the map.
Nova glared at him and took her time to observe the rest of the cockpit. Wires hung out of broken holes in the walls and a cup balanced inside of the chip reader. Most of it looked like it would never work again.
"Where?" Toro said, more forcefully.
Nova glanced at the map and pointed vaguely to the central galaxy.
"Where are we?" Toro asked.
Nova frowned at the map. She imagined overlaying it with the modern maps that she was more familiar with. The Jagged Maw had sat near the edge of the known galaxies and they'd flown past that to the border. In her mind's eye the border was a red line that circled the Confederacy controlled zone. She traced a line with her finger past the border to the next galaxy.
"Here," she said.
"That's not far at all!" Toro said. On the map the two galaxies were barely thirty centimetres apart.
Nova rolled her eyes. "This is a compressed chart."
"What does that mean?"
"It means they've removed all the space between galaxies so that they can fit them all in."
Toro frowned. "So how far away is it?"
"It would have taken this ship seventy years at least to get from there to here," Nova said.
"Seventy years?" Toro whispered.
Nova nodded. "At least, and that's if they didn't run into any trouble."
Toro stared up at the star chart and then looked at Nova with narrowed eyes. "Yours can do it faster."
Nova hesitated.
"How?"
"Newer technology."
"You will talk to my scientists and you will tell them about this technology."
Nova bit her bottom lip. "Why?"
"Because once I've learned everything I can from you, you and your friends will be free to go."
Toro gazed at her, expressionless.
"If you'd let your people invent they'd come up with it on their own," she said.
Toro shook his head. "You still don't get it. If I let them create it, then they will have too much power."
"But what's the point?" Nova said. "What's the point of learning my technology if you're going to keep your people in the dark?"
"Because I want to travel the stars."
"What makes you so special? What do you get from the stars which you don't have here?"
Nova waved vaguely above their heads where the opulent building spread out around them.
"Why be a king," Toro said. "When you can be a God?"
Nova's mouth snapped shut. Toro had spoken the words with absolute sincerity and not a hint of irony. He did mean to become God to his people.
"I can't help you," she said. "No one should have that much power."
Toro stepped closer so that his face was inches from hers. "Wouldn't it be better for them to praise me as a God, rather than some savage made-up being? At least I have realistic expectations, at least I have my humanity."
"You're going to release HAV on a village of people," Nova said quietly. "Whatever humanity you used to have, it's long gone."
The corner of Toro's mouth twitched, the first sign of emotion Nova had seen since they entered the colonisation ship.
"I will get what I need out of you. One way or another," he said. "Guards!"
Two men with guns appeared at the door to the ship.
"Take her to the prisons. I'll deal with her later."